In December 2008 Panasonic Corp. asked that several of its overseas employees send their families home to Japan due to the threat of pandemic influenza. Panasonic even gave a September, 2009 deadline for completion of the moves. While some analysts claim this unusual request is simply a cover-up for controlling costs on the part of Panasonic, it certainly is credible enough to give pause for emergency preparedness evaluation in our personal lives. Bloomberg analysts have claimed that bringing the employee families home from certain areas wasn't a viable cost-cutting measure.

If such a pandemic were to threaten our borders, are we prepared financially, physically, and emotionally for the consequences?

This news not only affects our citizens living abroad, as China and Egypt have also reported human H5N1 cases. Adding credence to this instance, a senior US government official who asked to remain anonymous said that the pandemic threat persists and the need for preparations is critical.